Sometimes, she hinted at more. Every time, I pretended to be oblivious.
She waved at the girls, her expression brightening. Her gaze landed on me and her smile widened. She veered toward us. Then she spotted June. Her smile faltered. “Oh my. I didn’t realize we had a celebrity in the house.”
June stiffened. Was it just from being recognized? “Hey, Annette.”
“I don’t usually hear about you being in town until after you’ve left.” Annette’s gaze jumped between me and June. “How nice of you to... visit.”
“Well, it is my home.” The edge in June’s smile wasn’t noticeable if you didn’t know her. I knew her. She was on alert. Over Annette?
Annette’s eyes narrowed. “You’re back for good?”
“No, I’m still working.” June’s smile dripped with more syrup than Bethany had added to her pancakes. “Nothing like crisp mountain air to fuel the creative juices.”
Impressed at her adept way of ending further inquiries, unless they were regarding her cocksucker of an ex, I reclined in my chair.
“I’m sure.” Annette tugged at the purse strap around her shoulder. “It’s almost like old times, seeing you two together again.”
A zing of alarm shot through me, tensing every muscle it passed. That was what I got for being too relaxed. Annette wasn’t going there, was she? Bringing up old news that was best left in the?—
“You two were what the kids say are ‘hashtag goals’ for couples in high school. I mean, you were togetherallof high school.”
My stomach hit the heels of my boots. Both of my girls’ spines went ramrod straight.
“What?” Bethany screeched.
“A couple?” Hannah’s eyes were wide.
Bethany sucked in a strangled breath and pounded the table. Dammit, we were turning into a spectacle. “Are you one of her exes?”
June winced. My face flushed hot, then cold. They did not need to piece the past together in the middle of Mountain Perks in front of witnesses. In front of the girl who’d broken my damn heart.
Hannah gripped her sister and they both leaned over the table.
“Dad,” Bethany said as if what was coming out of hermouth next was life or death. “Are any of those songs about you?”
Silence fell over the table. June dropped her head, a red blush wicking up her face. Surprise filled Annette’s face. Everyone probably thought I boasted about my history with country music’s latest sweetheart.
Bethany slumped in her chair. The look of disappointment she shot my way was laughable. “I can’t believe this,” she said dramatically. “My own father.”
I had let her watch too much TV.
“People like to speculate about my lyrics,” June said carefully, “but I’ve never confirmed or denied who, or even if, they’re about anyone in particular. It is true I take inspiration from the feelings I’ve felt before.”
“Are you ‘That Boy’?” Hannah leaned half her body over the table until we were face-to-face. “Did you make her cry all day and night?”
June peeked at me, her lower lip caught between her teeth. Chagrin filled her face. I was that boy. I’d made her cry. I’d given her all the freedom in the world, but I hadn’t asked her to stay.
I wasn’t getting into this bullshit in public. I had to divert. Yet when I glanced at June again, she was fighting a smile.
I was panicking, my kids were looking at me like I was a villain, and she was trying not to laugh? “You find this funny, June Bug?”
She failed to smother a snicker. “No.”
“When you lie, your nose lights up.”
She sucked in an indignant breath. “Rhys Conner Kinkade, that’s not the part you used to say lit up.”
Then her eyes flared like she couldn’t believe she’d just said that out loud, and she dissolved into giggles.
